The embodiments described herein relate generally to electrical machines and associated electronics, and more particularly, to methods and systems for securing electrical components within the electrical machines and dissipating heat from the electrical components.
Certain electrical machines are sometimes referred to as brushless motors. Brushless motors include both brushless AC motors and brushless DC motors and are used in a wide variety of systems operating in a wide variety of industries. Motors commonly include a stator having a plurality of stacked laminations and a central bore for receiving a rotor and associated bearings. A housing encloses the motor and electronics that control the motor. The housing includes a pair of end frames or end caps that can be coupled to opposite ends of the stator to facilitate supporting the rotor.
If not properly dissipated, heat generated by electronics and/or other components during operation of the electrical machine can shorten the life span of various electronics and/or motor components and/or generally result in poor performance of the electrical machine. Electronics generally include a second circuit which has solid state switching devices for commutating the power supplied to the electronically commutated motor to effect the energization of motor. A first circuit has various solid state components for controlling the conductivity of the switching devices. Conventional electronics may include a power board to support the second circuit and a control board to support the first circuit. An insulating board may be used to electrically isolate the power board from the control board. Multiple boards, however, may increase manufacturing costs, operating costs, maintenance costs and/or replacement costs.
Moreover, some of the solid state components, e.g., transistors, need to be relatively large to accommodate the currents that must pass during operation of the electrical machine. Large transistors can produce a sizable amount of heat that should be dissipated from the transistors in order to keep them functioning properly. Transistors also may take up a large amount of control board space which may also increase manufacturing costs, operating costs, maintenance costs and/or replacement costs and/or may increase operating losses. Further, securing the transistors to the central board applies stress and wear to control board, which may lead to failure of control board.